Wendy A. Woloson, "Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America" (U Chicago Press, 2020)
New Books in Critical Theory
00:00
The Importance of Institutions in Consumer Society
The peddler represented new ideas. He offered a variety of goods that people couldn't get where they were living. And by the 1820s and 1830s, you start to see in decent sized towns and cities, things called variety stores, offering what they called cheap goods popping up. So there was this combination of low price and variety that really triggered people to buy.
Transcript
Play full episode
